Sefton’s Sarah McCartney saw opportunity when faced with
redundancy and decided to launch her own business.
Having spent 22 years in the building plastics industry in
senior positions in customer service, key account management, and marketing, Sarah had a wealth of
experience to lend to her new venture.
But how did Sarah go from brimming with ideas to getting
started?
Sarah told us “The first thing I did was contact Invest
Sefton [Local Growth Hub Broker for the borough] to ask what I needed to do, and they suggested I start networking and
referred me to the Enterprise Hub to get the support of a business advisor to
guide me though the process”. Support from Enterprise Hub partners The
Women’s Organisation set the ball rolling for SLMC Consulting – a marketing
consultancy specialising in supporting SME’s and Start-ups overwhelmed by the
idea of marketing or buzzing with ideas, but not sure how to put them into
practice.
Sarah received one to one business advice and also attended
courses around business planning understanding tax and national insurance, and
events around the keys to business start up with The Women’s Organisation and
told us about the support
“The support I
received from the Enterprise Hub was brilliant, the best thing I could have
done to help start me off. Huda was my
advisor and I found the meetings we had every couple of weeks amazing.”
SLMC Consulting has continued to cultivate success in the
five months that the business has been running, and has found networking with
other businesses through the programme has helped her to build an initial
customer base that has led to the business bringing her an income sooner than
she had anticipated.
Reflecting on the steep learning curve of going into
business, Sarah offered some insight into her key lessons she has learned along
the way.
“It is important to
get advice but ensure that you take it and make it your own. Not everything
people suggest is always right for you and your business. Getting out on the networking circuit has
been a highlight which I had not anticipated but it has lead me to meet some
very supportive people that have become part of my ‘personal board’ of either
people I will ask advice of, or people if feel I can refer my clients to, to
provide services that I don’t including print, design, social media, sales
training etc.”
Already finding “work life balance” to be one of the key
benefits of going self-employed, Sarah is feeling positive about the future and
is currently completing coaching qualifications to be able to add an additional
dimension to her consultancy services.
Like Sarah over 5000 residents from the Liverpool City
Region have now been supported to assess their business ideas and build
enterprise skills, with over 850 now launching their new enterprise.
When asked what she would advise another person facing a
career crossroads and debating taking the leap into business Sarah said “I would tell them to get involved with a
business advisor from the Enterprise hub first.
I would then get them to look at what they really want to achieve and to
ensure that it must be something they are passionate about to keep them
committed. Things take a lot longer
than you realise so work to a plan and make sure you reflect on the progress
you are making regularly to keep you motivated.”
To find out more about SLMC
Consulting you can visit Sarah’s website www.slmc-consulting.com drop a
line to sarah@slmc-consulting.com
or connect on twitter @SLMCConsulting.
If like Sarah you have expertise
you think you could transfer to your own business, then contact Enterprise Hub
to access free impartial advice.
Enterprise Hub is part funded by
European Regional Development Fund and offers a one door access point for any
Liverpool City Region resident who is looking for business support to access
free expert help.
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